DUNMORE - The first 37 minutes were not pretty.

The final 11 minutes were so close to perfect that what came before them was nearly forgotten the moment the Susquehanna Sabers completed an improbable rally to a 32-21 victory over Holy Cross Saturday afternoon to open defense of their Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 title.

“This is one of those games I will always remember,” Sabers coach Dick Bagnall said after the 168th win of his 28-year career. “Except for maybe the Schuylkill Haven playoff game in ’94 and the Lakeland game that year, this ranks right up there through my entire career.”

The 37-35 win over Schuylkill Haven Nov. 25, 1994 in the Class A quarterfinals ranks as one of the most thrilling games in the history of the state playoffs. The 21-14 win over state-ranked Lakeland six days earlier in the District 2-12 final set up the Sabers to reach the pinnacle in the program’s history.

There have been championships, including one just a year ago, but few regular-season finishes match up to Saturday’s comeback, which would have been so difficult to predict right up until the moment it began.

The Sabers defense had been run through for a touchdown on the previous play to create a 15-point hole. The offense was self destructing with five fumbles, including three that were lost. When a big play was produced it was brought back with Jon Michael Marino having both an 86-yard kickoff return and a 70-yard pass reception for touchdowns wiped out by penalties.

Although the defense was hanging tough, the Sabers were losing the physical battle up front.

“We were not a disciplined team in the first half; I don’t know why,” Bagnall said. “But the kids settled down in the second half.”

With 11 minutes left, Holy Cross led in first downs, 11-6, and both rushing and passing yards for a 157-138 advantage in total offense.

The Crusaders, who scored 56 points just a week earlier, were no match for the Sabers the rest of the way.

Susquehanna pounded Holy Cross while scoring the game’s final 26 points. The Sabers racked up a 6-2 advantage in first downs, a 62-minus 8 lead in rushing yards, a 143-55 lead in passing yards and a 205-47 advantage in total offense the rest of the way.

Quarterback Sean Stanley had started the fourth quarter by losing eight yards and the football on the team’s third lost fumble of the night. Much of the ball-handling struggles could be traced back to Stanley, who was just 4-for-9 passing for 59 yards at that point.

Stanley hit an 11-yard pass and 4-yard run right before being part of the play that started the turnaround. Stanley found Cooper Quick on a post pattern for a 46-yard touchdown with 9:35 left.

When the two-point conversion pass fell incomplete, the Sabers still needed two more scores to complete the comeback.

Back-to-back tackles for losses by Jesse Pruitt forced a Holy Cross punt.

The comeback continued to pick up steam when, on third-and-10, Austin Cowperthwait pulled in a 44-yard touchdown pass from Stanley.

Just as he did on his two interceptions in the game, Cowperthwait went up high to take the ball away from opponents who appeared to be in proper position.

“We had our one pass play that we ran right across the middle that was working,” Stanley said. “I threw one to Cooper Quick and one to Austin. That set up our run.”

Defensive end Anthony Stark made the fourth-down stop to get the Sabers the ball back in Crusaders territory.

Another post pattern from Stanley to Quick, this one for 42 yards, set the Sabers up at the 3 and turned the emphasis of the comeback back to the running game.

Stanley stretched across the goal line on a third-down sneak from the 1 and again on the two-point conversion for a 26-21 lead with three minutes left.

A Stark sack and Cowperthwait’s second interception set up an insurance touchdown.

Pruitt ran 39 yards and Greg Price followed with a 12-yard touchdown for the clinching score with 1:26 left.

C.J. Monks added an interception at the 1 with three seconds left.

Pruitt, Price, Cowperthwait, Stark, Thomas Maby and Stanley all had big games statistically.

Pruitt rushed for 58 yards and led the defense. He made 11 tackles, including five for seven yards in losses, and assisted on five others.

Price carried 10 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns. He made eight tackles, assisted on two others and broke up a pass. One of his tackles was a sack and he made three others for losses.

Cowperthwait broke up three passes, in addition to the two he intercepted. He also was in on four tackles and caught two passes.

Stark’s late sack and fourth-down stop were part of his four-tackle, four-assist effort.

Maby made five tackles and assisted on four.

The defense contained Rob Heyen, who was coming off rushing for 306 yards, passing for 164 and accounting for 50 points against Western Wayne a week earlier.

Heyen ran and passed for just one score each while carrying 20 times for 37 yards and going 8-for-20 with four interceptions and 132 yards passing.

Stanley was 4-for-6 for 143 yards and two touchdowns passing in the fourth quarter to finish 8-for-15 for 202 yards.

“We had to throw the ball because were behind,” Bagnall said. “Maybe it’s my fault for not airing it out earlier.”

WEEK IN REVIEW

ELMHURST - Montrose’s Jordan Smith shot 76 over the first 18 holes at Elmhurst Country Club Wednesday to make the cut to the final nine holes, but fell short of advancing to state play when he finished 14th in the District 2 boys’ golf tournament.

Smith shot 43 in the extra nine where 16 players fought for the eight berths in state play. He finished at 11-over-par, 119.

Mountain View’s Chad Westcott and Tyler Salak shot 81 and 82 to miss the cut by two and three strokes.

Montrose’s Lance Nealy (84), Casey O’Reilly (91) and Mason Legg (108) also failed to make the cut after qualifying for the district championships by finishing in the top-third of the field in an earlier Lackawanna League event.

Forest City’s Katie Zefran shot 91 for 18 holes to finish sixth out of 18 players in the girls’ tournament where the top four advanced to state play.

Montrose’s Katie Clark finished 17th with a 113.

Earlier in the week, Montrose was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Lackawanna League playoffs with a 7 1/2-1 1/2 loss to North Pocono.

The Lackawanna Northern Division golf standings are now considered complete with all but one match - Blue Ridge against Honesdale - eventually getting played.

Montrose won at 9-1, followed by Wallenpaupack 8-1-1, Lakeland 8-1-1, Honesdale 7-2, Western Wayne 6-4, Lackawanna Trail 5-5, Carbondale 3-7, Forest City 3-7, Mountain View 2-8, Elk Lake 1-8-1, Blue Ridge 0-8-1.

In girls’ tennis, Elk Lake’s Kyleen Sisson won a first-round match before being eliminated from the District 2 Class AA singles tournament.

Megan Hinds of Montrose won her first set, but lost her first match in three sets.

Elk Lake’s Lindsey Shingler and Montrose’s Gracee Bulger were each eliminated in straight sets.

The Lackawanna League Division 2 tennis season wrapped up.

Final standings: Scranton Prep 12-0, Valley View 10-2, Mid Valley 8-4, Montrose 6-6, Western Wayne 0-12.

In high school football, Old Forge scored 35 points in the first 15 minutes on the way to a 45-6 victory over winless Montrose.

In other high school sports, the Elk Lake girls’ cross country team, the Mountain View girls’ soccer team and Forest City boys’ soccer team all remained unbeaten in Lackawanna League competition.

In running, the Steamtown Marathon was won by Peter Kemboi in 2:19:26.

Kemboi, a Kenyan now living and training in Kentucky, led most of the way in the 16th annual race from Forest City High School to downtown Scranton.

Renee Skelly of Philadelphia won the women’s race in 2:50:58.

Dominik Maida, an 18-year-old from New Milford, was the first Susquehanna County finisher. Maida was 685 out of 1861 finishers in 3:52:38.

In professional football, Montrose graduate Chris Snee spent Sunday night in a New Jersey hospital after suffering a concussion while playing for the New York Giants in their 36-25 National Football League loss to the visiting Seattle Seahawks.

Snee, an all-Pro guard in his eighth season with the team, has not missed a game since the end of his rookie year.

In professional hockey, the Binghamton Senators and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins each began the American Hockey League with two straight losses.

The Penguins picked up one point in the standings Sunday because their 1-0 loss to the Connecticut Whale came in a shootout.

COLLEGE CORNER

Blue Ridge graduate and former Susquehanna quarterback Dan Kempa took over as kicker for the King’s College football team Saturday.

Kempa made his only field goal attempt, a 22-yarder to force a first-quarter tie in a 42-10 loss to Lycoming College.

Kempa also made his only extra-point attempt. His three kickoffs, on average, went to the Lycoming 12.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Susquehanna is bringing back the portable lights for Friday night’s meeting of the county’s only two football programs.

Montrose (0-1, 0-6) is at Susquehanna (1-0, 4-2) in a Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 game.

Our predictions in last week’s games were 8-2 (80.0 percent), bringing our season record to 57-19 (75.0 percent).

This week’s predictions, with the home teams in CAPS: SUSQUEHANNA 31, Montrose 0; MID VALLEY 39, Holy Cross 16; OLD FORGE 21, Lackawanna Trail 20; Valley View 28, DELAWARE VALLEY 12; Scranton 46, NORTH POCONO 6; Wallenpaupack 25, WEST SCRANTON 18; Dunmore 25, LAKELAND 21; WESTERN WAYNE 45, Carbondale 19; RIVERSIDE 33, Honesdale 22; SCRANTON PREP 33, Abington Heights 14.

In girls’ tennis, the District 2 doubles semifinals and finals are scheduled for Wednesday, beginning at 1 p.m., tentatively at Kirby Park.

The tournament was set to open Tuesday at Kirby Park.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.unty Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Jimmie Johnson was all but written off two weeks ago when he finished 18th at Loudon and slipped to 10th in points, but after leading 197 laps on his way to Sunday’s win at Kansas, he is in good position for a sixth Chase title.

Johnson survived two restarts in the last 25 laps of the 272-lap race. The last was a green/white/checkered after teammate Jeff Gordon’s car blew an engine. Johnson pulled away from the second-place car of Kasey Kahne and went on to his second win of the season.

Jimmie Johnson wins at Kansas. Furnished by NASCAR.

“We had a really strong race car all day long,” said Johnson. “It was just hard racing. I had a problem. I knew that the quicker I got around those at the end, the better off I’d be. Kasey was coming, but this was just our day.”

Johnson moved up three Chase positions to third, and is now just 4 points behind Carl Edwards, the leader. Despite the recent success, Johnson is not taking anything for granted.

“There are 6 more races, 43 guys on track, 500-mile events, and there’s a lot that can go right and wrong and it’s not over until Homestead,” he continued.

“We needed longer runs,” said runner-up Kasey Kahne. “We needed to get our momentum going, and we couldn’t do it there at the end. We just ran out of laps, and all I can say, is, ‘we’ll keep working on it.’”

Brad Keselowski’s 3rd place finish dropped him two spots in the chase to 4th.

“We were close on fuel, but it was an up and down day,” said Keseloski. “We got to be about a second or third place car, but we weren’t quite with Jimmie today.”

The remaining top-10 finishers were: Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Marcos Ambrose, and Mark Martin.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 14th.

Tony Stewart had to fight a poor-handling car throughout the race and finished 15th.

Jeff Gordon’s DNF relegated him to a 34th place finish, and he dropped to 10th in Chase points.

Top-12 Chase leaders after 30 of 36: 1. Edwards-2161, 2. Harvick-2160, 3. Johnson-2157, 4. Keselowski-2150, 5. Kenseth-2149, 6. Kurt Busch-2145, 7. Stewart-2142, 8. Kyle Busch-2141, 9. Earnhardt-2118, 10. J. Gordon-2114, 11. Newman-2107, 12. Hamlin-2082

KESELOWSKI DOMINATES KANSAS NATIONWIDE RACE

Brad Keselowski dominated Saturday's Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway to win his fourth Nationwide Series race of the year and the 16th of his career.

The reigning series champion passed runner-up Carl Edwards with just over 13 laps left and pulled away to win by 2.795 seconds. Elliott Sadler ran third, followed by Paul Menard and Nationwide points leader Ricky Stenhouse, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Brian Vickers, Trevor Bayne, and Ryan Truex.

Top-10 leaders after 30 of 34: 1. Stenhouse-1064, 2. Sadler-1044, 3. Sorenson-994, 4. Almirola-984, 5. Allgaier-972, 6. Leffler-916, 7. K. Wallace-866, 8. S. Wallace-839, 9. Scott-838, 10. Annett-832

RISING COSTS HURTING BIG NASCAR TEAMS

The poor economy and high cost of racing is affecting even the strongest of NASCAR teams.

Jack Roush announced last week that he might downsize from a four-car Cup operation to three.

“We're looking for a sponsor for the No. 6-David (Ragan) car, but right now I can't tell you who that's gonna be," Roush said on Sirius Radio. “I'll say that I'm not real close on it. So David has been encouraged to talk to other teams that might have an interest, because right now I don't see how I'm gonna run the fourth car unless things turn dramatically.”

The other three Roush teams driven by Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, and Carl Edwards appear safe, but Edwards No. 99 team is still seeking associate sponsors.

Roush also operates two Nationwide teams (Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse), which he has self-funded in large part during 2011.

Richard Childress Racing which currently fields four full-time Cup cars will also shrink to three in 2012 with the departure of driver Clint Bowyer. The sponsor General Mills has cancelled its full-time sponsorship.

Bowyer has signed to drive the No. 15 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, which was able to land a major sponsor for a third car.

But it’s not as sweet as it sounds. 5-Hour Energy, the new sponsor on the No. 15 car is coming over from Rusty Wallace’s Nationwide team. That leaves Wallace without a major sponsor for his son’s No. 66.

Bowyer attempted to bring 5-Hour Energy to RCR, but because Bowyer wanted a reported $7 million a year salary, Richard Childress balked.

“The 5-Hour Energy people came to him, and they were willing for me to stay at RCR,” said Bowyer. “We talked to Richard about it, but still couldn't put a deal together. At that point I said, 'OK, we'll go somewhere else.' That's what ultimately led to leaving RCR. It's a shame. I owe a lot to Richard.”

According to ESPN, Childress opened the books to Bowyer, showing him the numbers didn't add up. Childress didn't feel the money from 5-Hour Energy was enough. And Childress wasn't going to pay the kind of money Bowyer was wanting without full funding on the car.

Precise figures were not announced, but 5-Hour Energy will be paying Waltrip between $12-$15 million a year to sponsor the No. 15 car.

The closure of these two major teams comes after earlier announcements that Red Bull Racing planned to shut down their two-team Cup operation, and Kevin Harvick was closing his Nationwide and truck series shop.

The economy and the high costs of racing has everyone in the NASCAR garages worried. Racing will survive, but it appears the big racing powerhouses are the biggest losers.

There are fewer major sponsors in today’s market. The ones that do want to stay in racing can’t justify the rising sponsorship costs.

Racing is still going to continue with a 43-car field. Expect less multi-car teams and more ‘start and park’ operations.

Oh yes, if you want to get involved in racing, you can purchase a 6-inch round decal on the side of some Cup cars for about $50,000. Of course that’s just for one race.

Weekend Racing: The Cup and Nationwide teams are at Charlotte, while the Trucks are out west at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Fri., Oct. 14, Nationwide Dollar General 300, race 31 of 34; Starting time: 7:30 p.m.; TV: ESPN2.

Sat., Oct. 15 Camping World Trucks Smith’s 350, race 21 of 25; Starting time: 3:30 p.m.; TV: Speed.

Sat., Oct. 15, Sprint Cup Bank of America 500, race 31 of 36; Starting time: 7:30 p.m.; TV: ABC.

All times are Eastern.

Racing Trivia Question: Where is Michael Waltrip’s hometown?

Last Week’s Question: Which Cup team will Mark Martin drive for in 2012? Answer. He has not decided, but said he plans to drive a partial Cup schedule.

You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodges@race500.com.

From her right forward position, Alix Taylor established herself as the league’s third-leading scorer while just a freshman.

In the three years since, Taylor has found the net less often but has settled into a spot where she can do even more for the Mountain View girls’ soccer team.

Taylor, the latest Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month, is the center midfielder on an unbeaten team that is leading Division 2 of the Lackawanna League.

“She did it without hesitation,” Mountain View coach Errol Mannick said of the position change. “You lose that limelight from scoring. You lose that notoriety.

“But she would do anything to help the team. She’s that kind of player.”

Taylor’s many responsibilities include leadership as captain.

As the team leader in assists and the third-leading scorer, she sets up her teammates offensively and is also responsible for helping on the other end of the field as needed.

“I feed the ball,” Taylor said. “I try to distribute it to everyone else.

“I help on defense, too.”

The Eagles won their first nine games, including seven during September.

"She kind of runs the whole show for us," Mannick said.

It has been an impressive show.

“I wasn’t sure if we could do this well because we lost quite a few seniors from last year,” Taylor said, “but everyone is playing really well together.”

Taylor is a four-year starter in soccer, but her future may be on the softball field.

After recovering from a broken arm in her freshman season, Taylor moved into the softball starting lineup when she returned.

The pitcher/outfielder is being recruited by several Division I schools.

“I’ve visited quite a few schools already,” said Taylor, who said she is not close to a decision yet.

Alix is the daughter of Rob and Lisa Taylor from Lenox.